Ouch on a number of things... I will simply list them because it might be easier for you to follow them instead of a long explanation.

1) Everybody is right, avocados are complete no-no to parrots, they are toxic to them. 2) A new seed mix is not going to help her at all. You need to reduce protein intake, changing brands accomplishes nothing.3) She won't ever eat raw produce if you continue to free-feed protein food, especially seeds.4) The small change in light schedule is completely useless because you are still keeping her up after sunset and not allowing the exposure to twilight.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I don't mean it as a criticism to you but I am becoming increasingly worried about your birds... I have tried to explain how their bodies work but I might have given you too much info all at once because, going by your answers, it doesn't seem that you even read what I wrote. I am not offended or upset over this but, unless you learn about their needs and how their bodies work, your birds will not be comfortable or healthy. You really need to do some in-depth research on the right husbandry to keep them healthy and happy. When it comes to parrots, loving them is not enough, you need to learn and apply the knowledge.

Pajarita wrote:Ouch on a number of things... I will simply list them because it might be easier for you to follow them instead of a long explanation.

1) Everybody is right, avocados are complete no-no to parrots, they are toxic to them. 2) A new seed mix is not going to help her at all. You need to reduce protein intake, changing brands accomplishes nothing.3) She won't ever eat raw produce if you continue to free-feed protein food, especially seeds.4) The small change in light schedule is completely useless because you are still keeping her up after sunset and not allowing the exposure to twilight.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I don't mean it as a criticism to you but I am becoming increasingly worried about your birds... I have tried to explain how their bodies work but I might have given you too much info all at once because, going by your answers, it doesn't seem that you even read what I wrote. I am not offended or upset over this but, unless you learn about their needs and how their bodies work, your birds will not be comfortable or healthy. You really need to do some in-depth research on the right husbandry to keep them healthy and happy. When it comes to parrots, loving them is not enough, you need to learn and apply the knowledge.

{EVER HEARD THE OLD SAYING LOVING YOU TO DEATH ? Unfortunately there are so many parrots lost due to this saying because until we are educated ,everything they do and all the garbage they eat with us is so cute and then the reality sets in. Make no excuse for me wolf as I was and am still mortified by what's happening here , and by being blunt and panicked I thought this would sink in right away , as so much that has been said has not. I even PM'd in case they were not on line. BW}

IVE ONE BIRD. THAT I RESCUED. NOT MORE THAN ONE. YOU ARE A JERK. AND THE ONES WHO DID "help" THANKS. like I said I was clueless to the whole bird caring and everything that pertained. I didn't ask for the bird I simply took her out of a terrible living environment and placed her somewhere better than a dark room covered up all day everyday with no water not knowing what I'd be getting myself into. And as matter of factory the avocado was taken out right after I read the nurturtion section before I had to refresh what I had wrote before! I've got zero pmds.

And yes I can be a panicked jerk! Understand I am only trying to get you to wake up fast and pay attention so you don't have to feel the guilt and pain of losing your bird and feeling responsible for it. I know the pain and have carried the burden for 17 years with yes 1 adopted bird and me listening to the guy she came from telling me Doritos and Big Macs were her favorite. Well many thousands of dollars and enough time to absolutely fall in love with my bird , and to loose her because of the ignorance of the first owner and me not getting educated fast enough , I carry a lot of guilt and still cry for my little girl. i will gladly be the jerk to save you and your baby the pain I've gone through to get you to step it up and be careful. Hopefully my panic got to you quick enough to remove the avacado before it did any harm. Maybe tough love but I have your attention BW. This is how the little bird rescue got started so my baby's life had a positive meaning.

I am not actually trying to make any excuses for anyone, but I did attempt to explain the reason that prompted the response. We all care very deeply about each others birds and want only the best for both the bird and the birds caregiver. I also tend to believe that we are put in a situation that we feel that we must say this is a dangerous mistake and change it now for your birds health and welfare that instead of leaving them hanging that we should consider giving them some links showing why this is bad as well as point them in the right direction to go as they may not know where to look for these answers which is why they come to places such as this.

You yourself tell us of a bird that you did not know what was right and consequently listened to the prior caregiver and all of the bad advice that they gave you. It would have been much more helpful if someone had said to you this is wrong and here is a link to show you why it is wrong and here is a link to point you in the right direction.

All that any of us can do is the best that we can and hope to stay out of our own way and this person had said she knew somewhere between little to nothing about this bird. I will do all that I can to help this bird and its new human who is desparately seeking help to make life better for this bird as I am positive that you will also do.

We are no different than any other group of people in that we get scared for the birds in other peoples care as much as we do when we are caring for the bird ourselves, but I do think that we could be more aware of the full impact of our words on other people when we respond to them.

Please tell us all about your bird and what you have done with it and what you are currently doing with it and we will try to give you the best possible advice based on what you tell us, what our knowledge and what our experiences have taught us about our bird. .we are here to help you and your bird in any way that we can.

This is why I said in an earlier post about simplifying things for her. I understand the overwhelming feeling of to much info and the seemingly endless battle to feed a proper diet. But that comes with what I choose to do. Transitioning to a healthy diet is the hardest , most wasteful and time consuming part of rehabbing a parrot for me. I'll take a 1000 bites over diet changing any day but what a rewarding thing it is when you see everyone eating healthy and know that one main problem is solved. With my little girl , she was also left with out water and good food and had a cover on Her at 4 o'clock in the afternoon when I picked her up. I have a lot in common with miss Tennessee and don't want her to suffer as I did. I never continued the bad diet but knew nothing about the right foods but studied quick. If I can save her steps I will even if she thinks I'm a jerk BW

Please understand that I understand where all of you who responded to Swanson34, are coming from and in that your response is not wrong, many of us carry the mental and emotional scars of our early mistakes with our birds, expecially when we were not able to save the bird, but just as it takes listening to the bird and a lot of patience in order to change their lives for the better, many of the new members that come to this site also need for us to show understanding and patience if we are going to help them improve both the lives of their new birds and theirs as well. It sometimes requires that we read between the lines to see what time does not reveal and it may also require a bit of compassion as well.

With all of the birds that we have not been able to help for various reasons as well as the rejections that we have endured because of our passion for these birds, we should know better than most how it feels to not know what to do and reach out for help and getting a response that makes us feel insulted and put down because we made a mistake trying to help our new friend who just happens to be a bird. Please think about what I am trying to say, and please know that I am not saying any of this as a reprimand, but that I just think that there was a better way to deal with this.

This is your forum collectively and over time it will become that what you want it to become, but for myself I hope that it will grow into the forum that provides the best, most up to date information on parrot care that it can be. I also hope to see that it grows into the best forum for people that have parrots to come, whether they are total novices as I was when I first came here or if they have loads of experience, to come and share however much or little they know. Even the biggest mistakes can be used to teach us all something about each other and our birds if it is approached correctly.

Swanson34 wrote:IVE ONE BIRD. THAT I RESCUED. NOT MORE THAN ONE. YOU ARE A JERK. AND THE ONES WHO DID "help" THANKS. like I said I was clueless to the whole bird caring and everything that pertained. I didn't ask for the bird I simply took her out of a terrible living environment and placed her somewhere better than a dark room covered up all day everyday with no water not knowing what I'd be getting myself into. And as matter of factory the avocado was taken out right after I read the nurturtion section before I had to refresh what I had wrote before! I've got zero pmds.

I was the one that mentioned 'birds' in plural. I was going by your "time to feed everyone dinner and make sure the cages aren't a mess" which I understood to mean more than one bird.

I am sorry you got offended. It was not our desire to make you feel bad and, if we were too tough on you, I apologize. You did a wonderful thing taking in this poor bird and I thank you for it! I also thank you for taking the avocado out of her cage right away - you'd be surprised to know that there are people who continue doing the wrong thing even after they are told it's bad for the bird.

As to not knowing what you got yourself into... welcome to the club! I don't think there is a single parrot keeper in the entire world that doesn't feel that way! We all made mistakes - and I do mean ALL OF US, no exceptions! Lord, when I look back to my first parrot and see the things I used to do, I want to kick myself! Don't feel bad about that because everybody needs to learn how to walk and fall down many times before we learn to run. Like I said, keeping parrots the right way is EXTREMELY difficult, time-consuming, expensive and so very involved that one ends up with one's life revolving around the birds needs. It's that, sometimes, we are like grandparents who, having had several children and having gone through all the stages of their growth, we scold new parents not remembering that we were in their shoes once and making the same mistakes.

Don't give up on us - we might be too harsh sometimes but we all love birds (ALL birds, ours and everybody else's) and, collectively, we have a wealth of knowledge to share.